This application is based on and claims the priority under 35 U.S.C. xc2xa7119 of German Patent Application 199 23 922.3, filed on May 26, 1999, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
The invention relates to a security window or security door that impedes the penetration of bullets or other projectiles and inhibits forceful entry or burglary. The security window or door includes a window or door jamb frame and a window or door panel frame that is pivotably mounted in the jamb frame. Edge portions of the jamb frame overlap edge portions of the panel frame in an overlap area. The jamb frame and the panel frame are embodied as hollow profile members having hollow chambers that extend in the longitudinal direction therein. Burglary-inhibiting and/or bullet-impeding inserts can be disposed in these hollow chambers.
German Patent Publication DE 36 04 433 C1 discloses a security window or door having a hollow chamber in the hollow profile of the window or door panel frame. The hollow chamber can receive a bullet-impeding insert therein and extends along a comparatively recessed or set back plane in the hollow profile in the area of a gap that is formed between the window or door panel frame and the jamb frame. The purpose of the recessed insert is to prevent projectiles from penetrating through the window or door directly in the area of the gap. Furthermore, the disclosed window or door can be provided with an additional insert both in the jamb frame and in the window or door panel frame, whereby the additional insert is arranged in front of the above mentioned insert that protects the gap area (viewing the window or door from the side that is subject to forceful attack). As a result, the profile allocated to the panel frame overlaps, on the one side, an edge portion of a bullet-impeding filler panel and, on the other side, an edge portion of the recessed insert, also in the window or door panel frame. An edge area of the insert in the jamb frame also overlaps on the one side the recessed insert of the window or door panel frame and, on the other side, for example, an additional insert of the jamb frame that is also recessed and that can form the connection to other structural parts of the building.
The security window or door described above provides overall a bullet-impeding embodiment of the frame construction. While the known construction has proven to be technically very useful, it suffers the disadvantage that the production of the security profiles is relatively complex and thus relatively expensive. The complexity stems from the fact that the profile of the window or door panel frame is provided with two hollow chambers arranged offset from each other for receiving inserts. Also, the embodiment and arrangement of the inserts in the overlap or rabbeted area, in which the gap between the window or door panel frame and the window or door jamb frame changes its direction a number of times, is particularly complicated.
Another construction of a window, door, or fixed glass panel in a bullet-impeding embodiment is disclosed in European Patent Publication 0,253,983 B1. Here, too, security profiles that overlap each other in an overlap area are provided on the attack-prone side of both the window or door jamb frame and the panel frame. The gap formed between the two profiles has the form of two waves cutting across each other and extends at approximately a 45xc2x0 angle relative to the plane of the window. The profiles of both the window or door jamb frame and the window or door panel frame are provided with trapezoidal-shaped hollow chambers that also extend at an angle of approximately 45xc2x0. Insert panels that extend either parallel or perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the hollow chambers are arranged in the hollow chambers. The hollow chambers extend into the overlap area to ensure that security against penetration by a projectile is also provided in the overlap area of the two profiles. This is one of the features that make this particular known construction complicated to manufacture. German Patent Publication DE 78 03 666 U1 discloses a bullet-impeding door or window construction of the general type described above. The inserts in the profiles of the window or door panel frame and the jamb frame are arranged in two planes that extend parallel yet offset relative to each other. These inserts extend into the overlap area of the two profiles, which are separated from each other by a stepped gap. It is comparatively simple to manufacture such security profiles. Such profiles, however, are not adequate to satisfy the security requirements if, in addition to a bullet-impeding effect, a forced entry inhibiting effect is also required, particularly in the higher resistance or security classes.
German Patent Publication DE 28 45 951 C2 discloses a bullet-impeding metal door. The outer side of the profiles for both the jamb frame and the window or door panel frame is provided with a solid, massive casing or cover profile that is to prevent projectiles from penetrating through the frame area. The gap between the jamb frame and the panel frame in the area of the solid cover profile extends diagonally relative to the plane of the window or door and is, in addition, bent in an S-shape. Such a construction is disadvantageous if a bullet-impeding effect of the window or the door is not required and the requirements for protecting against forceful entry are low (lower resistance or security classes). In this case, the solid embodiment of the cover profiles is unnecessarily expensive and furthermore results in a noticeable increase in weight of the jamb frame and/or panel frame construction.
In view of the above, it is an object of the invention to provide a security window or a security door, generally called a security structure herein, that is less costly to manufacture, and that is adaptable through simple measures to satisfy the requirements for the various resistance or security classes with respect to preventing forceful entry or penetration by a bullet or other projectile without requiring modifications of the basic frame profile members of the security structure. The invention further aims to avoid or overcome the disadvantages of the prior art and to achieve additional advantages, as are apparent from the present specification.
The above objects have been achieved according to the invention in a security structure, e.g., a security window or security door, in which hollow jamb frame and/or panel frame profile members have therein hollow chambers that are situated exclusively laterally next to or displaced from an overlap area of the jamb frame and the panel frame. The hollow profile member of the jamb frame and/or of the window or door panel frame includes a solid edge portion in the overlap area. The respective hollow chamber is directly adjacent to the respective edge portion. Because of the solid construction of the edge portions in the overlap area, it is not necessary to provide hollow chambers in that area. This is an advantage because it was often technically difficult to manufacture hollow chambers in the irregularly-shaped overlap area. In any case, the conventional construction of the hollow chambers in the overlap area added significantly to the manufacturing costs. Also, because the solid portion of the profile members of the jamb frame and the panel frame is restricted to a relatively small edge portion in the overlap area, the material requirements for such profile members are held within limits, which further aids in keeping costs down. Furthermore, the weight per unit length of the profile member having a solid edge portion is increased only slightly by the solid edge portion, in contrast to a conventional construction in which the outer profile member of the security door or window is constructed as a solid profile member.
The core concept of the invention is to protect the overlap area, which is typically formed to have an irregular shape by a number of stepped surfaces or recesses, by providing a solid, massive edge portion on the profile member and providing a hollow chamber that is directly adjacent to the edge portion. The edge portions are relatively simple to produce and the hollow chambers can receive break-in inhibiting and/or bullet-impeding security inserts. This construction protects the overlap or rabbeted area, without requiring a solid window or door construction that would be unnecessarily heavy and expensive to manufacture. Thus, the security window or door according to the invention provides the required security, yet simultaneously avoids unnecessary weight and expense.
The profile members for the jamb frame and the window or door panel frame remain unchanged, regardless of the security requirements that must be satisfied. Thus, the invention provides a tremendous advantage because the basic security window or door according to the invention, with its solid edge portions and hollow chambers, as a basic minimum satisfies the requirements of the lower resistance classes with regard to inhibiting forced entry, yet can easily be adapted or upgraded as desired to meet the requirements of higher resistance classes simply by arranging appropriate security inserts in the hollow chambers. The particular security demands will determine which type of material is appropriate for use as the insert material, for example, aluminum, steel, hard metal, or ceramic. The solid edge portions in the overlap area of the jamb frame and panel frame profile members provide a basic protection against penetration by a bullet or other projectile. The protection against penetration of the window or door by a bullet or projectile can be adapted to meet the demands of the highest resistance classes by appropriately adapting the thickness or strength of the edge portions.
The xe2x80x9cbasic profilexe2x80x9d of the security window or door according to the invention also provides a basic protection against burglary or breaking and entering (generally any forced entry), because the solid edge portions operate to prevent the security door or window from being pried open in the overlap or rabbeted area. The burglary-inhibiting protection can be increased to meet any security demand by arranging security inserts in the hollow chambers. The solid edge portions in the overlap area also provide the possibility, when embodied with the appropriate cross-section, of causing the jamb frame and the panel frame to catch or interlock with each other if a person tries to break open the window or door.
The security window or door according to the invention thus provides a certain minimum degree of protection against forced entry and penetration by projectiles in any case, and can provide increased burglary-inhibiting and/or bullet-impeding protection according to a building block principle by incorporating readily available additional standard components, particularly security inserts. The use of the appropriate inserts makes it possible to adapt the security door or window to meet the security requirements of the highest resistance or security classes.
In a particularly advantageous embodiment of the invention, the respective hollow profile member and the solid edge portion are integrally constructed as a single piece. This construction eliminates the need for possibly complicated attachment or bonding measures. Also, such an integral profile member can easily be fabricated by known techniques such as extrusion.
In a further embodiment of the invention, the gap that is formed between the jamb frame and the panel frame extends initially at a right angle to the plane of the window or door, then parallel to the plane of the window or door, and finally, extends again at a right angle or obliquely relative to the plane of the window or door. This embodiment of the gap area is a particularly effective impediment to penetration by a bullet or other projectile because it prevents a projectile from penetrating through the entire depth or thickness of a profile member along a straight xe2x80x9calleyxe2x80x9d or path through the gap. A projectile that coincidentally penetrates precisely into the gap opening from the attack side will quickly lose much of its energy because of the forced change of direction caused by the angling of the gap and, as a result, will not be able to penetrate entirely through the profile member.
According to another embodiment of the invention, the hollow profile members of the jamb frame and/or the panel frame each respectively have therein two hollow chambers arranged one behind the other in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the window or door. The hollow chamber closest to the attack side is provided with a single-layer or multi-layer insert arranged therein. Thus, the insert arranged in the hollow chamber on the attack side can be securely fixed. Furthermore, this insert can be constructed to be relatively narrow or thin, yet, depending on the material of the insert, still satisfy the highest requirements for impeding penetration by a bullet or other projectile. The overall amount of material required for the profile members according to the invention is also reduced because the rear hollow chamber, which is arranged behind the forward hollow chamber filled with the insert, remains hollow. This also aids in avoiding excessive weight of the security window or door.
In an alternative embodiment, the jamb frame and/or the panel frame each comprise two hollow profile members that are connected to each other by a thermal insulation profile member. This thermal insulation profile member can be made of any conventionally known synthetic material having thermal insulating qualities, for example. Thus, despite the metal profile members that are used on the outside and inside because of their strength and break-in resistance ability, the thermal insulation profile members inserted between the two metal profile members will ensure that the security window or door provides good thermal insulation, because the insulating material provides a break or barrier in the thermal conduction path through the frame.